“WE WERE AFRAID THAT CHILDREN ARE GOING TO A NEW COUNTRY WITH A DIFFERENT CULTURE. BUT THEY WERE VERY HAPPY. THE RECEPTION OF PEOPLE WAS VERY GOOD."
GHOFRAN
UK
When they fled Zakyah, on the outskirts of Damascus, in 2013, 4-year-old Ola took her rag doll, brother Adel took his wristwatch, father Ishmael packed his shisha and prayer beads and mother Ghofran took blankets. and pans. They fled to Lebanon, where they would spend the next five years struggling to raise their family among millions of other Syrian refugees in Lebanon – until one morning in January 2018, when Ishmael was awakened by a phone call. Ghofran was preparing breakfast when she heard screams, Ismael shouted: “It was the lady from the UN!”. It was a stroke of luck they could hardly believe.
Eleven months later, in December 2018, the Khaled Jhayem family landed in Liverpool, only to be greeted by a group of strangers. Ann Connor, who chairs Bishop Eton Parish Council, introduced the parish's community sponsorship program. “Seventy-five people showed up,” Ann said, “we had enough doctors to fill a hospital and enough teachers to open a school.”
"COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP HAS A VERY HUGE RACING EFFECT."
She and Tricia Brophy created the steering committee and built teams to handle everything from fundraising to housing, with each member contributing their knowledge and skills.
Money was among the first challenges. Generosity came from unexpected places. A couple in their eighties donated £1,000, while a six-year-old girl gave her birthday money in a check for £160, as well as a £500 donation, a spontaneous gift from the women of Penny Lane Mosque. . Father Tim Buckley, pastor of Bishop Eton, is still in awe of the ensuing chain of events. “The mosque has now set up a team to help the homeless in the city. Community sponsorship had a very big ripple effect.”
The group prepared the house, developed daily language classes for the parents; primary and secondary schools for children; financial and banking assistance; even a welcome book translated into Arabic – all this and more awaited the arrival of the family.
Before moving to the UK, Ismael, a metal worker in the family's Syrian company, was apprehensive about taking the children "from life to life and into a different culture". As none of them spoke English, he warned that it would be difficult at first. But Ghofran said her fears soon disappeared. “They were very happy. The reception of the people was very good.”
Ola was surprised to find that sport and art were part of the school curriculum and she has already won a 'best player' trophy in football. But his favorite subject is mathematics and he hopes to study medicine later. Adel is already the translator for the family, he also hopes to be a doctor, as he remembers how difficult it was to have access to medical care in Lebanon.
With the pandemic, the group was less present, but Ann says that “the tables have changed and now we are the ones who receive messages of support from Ismael and Ghofran, offering to do work and shop for all of us”.